Oakland Raids Wright State in Dual Meet Action

ROCHESTER, Mich, November 8. OAKLAND University’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were in action at the OU Natatorium on Friday night competing against Wright State where both teams went undefeated in dual meet action. The men’s team beat the Raiders by a score of 126-115 while the women’s team won by a 138-97 margin. With the wins, the women’s team remain undefeated with a dual meet record of 4-0 while the men’s record stands at 2-1.

Opening the meet was the 200-medley relay in which a quad of Jenna DeJonge (Royal Oak, Mich.), Shelly Aurit (Batavia, Ill.), Tanya Korniyenko (Almaty, Kazakhstan) and Oksana Strelets (Kazakhstan) took the top time of 1:48.09 on the women’s side. For the men, it was a combination of Eric Lynn (Plymouth, Mich.), Hunor Mate (Hungary), Eric Gusa (Richardson, Tex.) and Sean Broadbent (Windsor, Ont.) who would finish in first place with a time of 1:33.92 to begin the meet in fine form.

On the women’s side, seven swimmers and divers finished in first place in their individual events. Freshman Amanda Burwell (Akron, Ohio) opened up the Oakland dominancy hitting the wall first in the 1000 free with a time of 10:26.84 – almost three seconds ahead of Raider Julie Coghlan. Line Jensen (Silkeborg, Denmark), Oakland’s record holder in the 200 and 400 IM events, captured the 200 free in a time of 1:54.47. She was followed by Strelets who captured the 50 free in 23.89 – her top time so far in 2003-04.

Oakland garnered a one-two finish in the 200 IM with Korniyenko beating out freshman Melissa Jaeger (Ann Arbor, Mich.) by more than two seconds. The duo was battling again during the 100 fly where Korniyenko (57.07) edged out Wright State’s Jackie Dexter (58.03) and Jaeger touched in third (59.07).

Jensen next exploded in the 100 free capturing the event in 53.91. She was followed by a win from distance freestyler Angela Simetkosky (Livonia, Mich.) in the 500 freestyle event in a time of 5:11.83. Karoline Freytag (Kronach, Germany) was second in the event with a time of 5:13.27.

The Golden Grizzlies diving team dominated the one-meter springboard finishing one-two-three. Freshman Liz Herrington (Battle Creek, Mich.) dove to the best score with a season high 232.65 while sophomores Linda Keskey (Cokato, Minn.) and Andrea Endres (Zeeland, Mich.) finished in second and third with scores of 231.97 and 207.38. On the three-meter boards, Oakland again went one-two – this time Keskey took the top score (251.85) while Herrington was runner-up (217.27). That was enough for the Golden Grizzlies to take the win as the women’s team dominated the Raiders 138-97.

Junior sprint freestyle specialist Chris Sullivan (Rockford, Mich.) was the first Golden Grizzly to take an individual event on the men’s side capturing the 200 free in a time of 1:40.74 – well over four seconds ahead of Wright State’s Dejon Antolic (1:45.52). Broadbent who captured the 100 free swimming a time of 47.14 succeeded Sullivan’s win.

Sullivan then hit the waters in the 100 back taking the title in 52.75 – beating teammate Lynn by 1.68 seconds. In the 500 freestyle, Nick McCollum (Fairfield, Ohio) took top spot with a time of 4:44.81 – almost five seconds ahead of Raider Will Ehresman(4:44.81).

In the 100 breaststroke, Mate took a crucial top finish in a time of 55.27. Teammate Marty Moen (Eugene, Ore.) also came up big and took third place in a time of 58.29. Going into the last event, the 200 free relay, Oakland edged Wright State by just two points (113-111). However, the Golden Grizzlies were sure to put the meet away when a quad of Gusa, Andy Munoz (El Paso, Tex.), Lynn and Sullivan took the relay in a time of 1:24.63.